


The Ties That Bind

by sowell



Category: Naruto
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-05-27
Updated: 2013-05-27
Packaged: 2017-12-13 02:25:46
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,002
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/818878
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sowell/pseuds/sowell
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>To have and to hold, 'til death do us part.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Ties That Bind

_…to have…_

 

_Where is the rest of your team?_

_What are their plans?_

_Where will the reinforcements come from?_

_We know Konoha moves in four-man teams. Where is your team, Naruto?_

 

After a while, the questions began to blur together in one loud grate of noise. It was ironic, because Jiraiya had always told him he couldn’t keep his mouth shut if his life depended on it.

 

“You’re hopeless,” he’d say, with something like affection in his eyes.

 

 _Who knew_? Naruto thought grimly. It turned out he could keep his mouth shut very, very well. He wondered if Jiraiya would have been proud.

                                                                                                                              

They used fists and weapons and words, and he kept stubbornly, murderously silent. He couldn’t stop them from taking the Kyuubi out of him, but he could make it as difficult as possible.

 

There were paper seals covering his wrist and ankle restraints in an unbroken wrap. It made his chakra feel thin, unstable, and try as he might, he couldn’t get to the fox for help. The only clone he managed to produce was sickly and transparent, and it disappeared within a few seconds. He was Uzumaki Naruto, and he wasn’t about to go down without a fight, but he had to admit that the Akatsuki were thorough bastards. He was well and truly stuck.

 

He’d been a prisoner for four days when they set the Sharingan on him.

 

“Finally,” Naruto said, trying for a grin. It stretched his cracked lip painfully. “I wondered why they hadn’t sent you yet. They must not have much faith in you.”

 

“I hear you’re being uncooperative,” Sasuke said, stepping into his cell. He’d gotten even taller in the months since Naruto last saw him, and he was dressed head to toe in black and red.

 

Sasuke’s face was absolutely emotionless, flat dark eyes and pale ivory skin. His face had always been too pretty, and it was almost horrifying to see him like this – all that dramatic beauty twisted up into the image of a torturer.

 

But Naruto had seen him when he was young, and vulnerable, and broken. He kept those memories in his mind now, imposing the old face over the new. They were the same person, he reminded himself. Plus or minus a few years of snake-sannin contamination.

 

Sasuke’s hand lifted his chin, and Naruto knew his whole face must have been a lacerated, mottled purple. They were bruising him quicker than the Kyuubi could heal him, and it was beginning to take a toll.

 

Sasuke made a disapproving noise as he turned Naruto’s face this way and that, examining. Then he very carefully dug two fingers into Naruto’s sprained wrist.

 

Naruto gritted his teeth, but he couldn’t stop the hiss of pain from escaping.

 

“You’re not in any position to be pulling heroics,” Sasuke said, a chiding note in his voice. “You’re going to die either way. You don’t have to do it painfully.”

 

“And if you say it, it must be true,” Naruto muttered. “Asshole.”

 

His chin smacked against his chest when Sasuke dropped his face, and it took a superhuman effort just to raise it on his own power, to look his worst-rival-turned-best-friend-turned-deserter-turned-Akatsuki-piece-of-shit in the eye. From what Naruto could tell through blurred vision, Sasuke looked annoyed. Good.

 

“You never were very smart, were you?” Sasuke crouched down so that they were face-to-face. “Haven’t you figured it out yet, loser? The only reason you’re alive – the only reason you matter at all – is because of what’s inside of you.”

 

Naruto felt his fingers curl in their restraints.

 

“Konoha would sacrifice you on a whim to protect themselves. Their orders are probably to assassinate you, if they can’t get you out. Better one dead soldier than the fox in enemy hands, right?” Sasuke’s voice was deep, calm, and amused. “That’s what I would do, if I were Hokage.”

 

Naruto let every bit of disdain he possessed seep into his voice. “It’s not a coincidence that there’s never been an Uchiha in the Hokage’s seat.”

 

Sasuke’s mouth tightened. He gave Naruto’s wrist a sharp twist, and Naruto gasped. One of Sasuke’s hands gently took hold of his throat while he was still panting, trying to clear his head.

 

“Idiot,” Sasuke said. “You never learn.” Sasuke’s grip tightened a little, enough to restrict his breathing, but not cut it off. Two irises started to swirl red.

 

“Look at me,” he said.

 

Naruto closed his eyes.

 

“Naruto,” he said in a smooth, warning voice. “Look at me.” He felt Sasuke’s thumb brush along the seams of his eyelids, one hand still circling his neck. Naruto supposed they could pry his eyelids open if they really wanted, but this was somehow worse. Sasuke’s fingers were cool and light on the bruises of his face, and he was touching Naruto gently, like maybe they were still friends. Like maybe he still cared.

 

“If you don’t open your eyes,” Sasuke said softly, “I’ll break your arm.”

 

Naruto opened his eyes.

 

_...and to hold…_

 

It was like falling, Naruto mused, and when he hit the ground, he and Sasuke were on the bridge leading from Wave Country to the main land. The bridge they’d helped to build, to protect, back when they were a team.

 

“This is where it started,” Sasuke said, looking out at the water. “This is where you ruined my life.”

 

 _His_ life _?_

 

Naruto opened his mouth to tell Sasuke in no uncertain terms what a self-centered, egotistical bastard he was, but he found he couldn’t speak or move. He was glued to the rough planks under his feet.

 

Sasuke gave him a sidelong glance. “You’re in my genjutsu now. Don’t bother.”

 

Naruto glared, kicking and screaming inside his head, and standing perfectly, helplessly still on the outside.

 

Sasuke approached him, walking around him in a slow circle. “You were so annoying. Always talking and bragging and screwing up. I thought you were pathetic.”

 

He stopped, and Naruto could feel warm breath on the back of his neck. “And then…I don’t know. I don’t know why I saved you. You were never supposed to be important. Your death – your life – it shouldn’t have made a difference.”

 

He put a hand on the juncture between Naruto’s shoulder and neck, a firm squeeze. “But it did. I learned about friendship from you. How it makes you strong. And how it makes you weak. And now…”

 

He slid around so they were face to face. Naruto could feel the mist off the water, drifting across his skin.

 

“Now,” he murmured into Naruto’s ear. “Here’s the difference between us. I’ve learned how to use it.”

 

Naruto blinked, and Sasuke was back against the rail of the bridge. He wasn’t alone. Sakura was with him, a wash of pink hair and pale skin and red cloth. Naruto could just make her out, enough to see the fear on her face.

 

“Wh-what?” she stammered. “Sasuke-kun, what are you – ”

 

She shut up when Sasuke put a kunai to her throat. “Tell me where the rest of the team is, or I’ll kill her.”

 

 _An illusion_ , Naruto told himself, trying to calm his racing pulse. That wasn’t the real Sakura, any more than the bridge under his feet or the sky above him was real. The cold was coming from the chilly dungeon stones, not any morning sea breeze.

 

But…

 

Sasuke dug the kunai in, and blood started to trickle. “Tell me.”

 

Naruto stared at him mutely, oddly terrified.

 

Sasuke shoved her over the side of the bridge, and Naruto’s mind cried out. She screamed all the way down, and then she hit the water and everything fell silent.

 

Shit, shit, shit. Naruto realized he was crying, the tears rolling down his frozen face.

 

Suddenly she was there again, back in Sasuke’s arms. She was soaking wet and shivering. “Please,” she said, looking at him with desperate green eyes. “Please, not again.”

 

Sasuke shoved her over the edge.

 

 _Stop it_! Naruto shouted, but all that came out was a whimper.

 

“This is what it feels like,” Sasuke said smoothly, “to watch the people you love die.” Sakura reappeared, sobbing this time. Naruto could almost taste her tears on the air, lemony-sharp across his lips. He thought he might be going insane.

 

“Naruto, help me,” she begged. “Don’t let him.”

 

Sasuke’s voice came at him in surround sound, like the mist itself was speaking. “For the next twenty-four hours, you’ll watch me kill her over and over again. As soon as you decide you want to talk, I’ll stop.”

 

 _No, no, no_. Naruto tried to close his eyes, but his body wasn’t under his control. It didn’t matter whether it was fake or not. Nothing could feel realer than this, than Sakura’s tears and Sasuke’s fucking emotionless mask, and this cold, awful, hopeless terror. And he couldn’t call on the fox, and there was no one to help him snap out of it. He would just spiral in this hell, all alone, unable to do anything but watch as….

 

And suddenly he realized. He hadn’t seen Sakura cry in years. She would never beg like that, and she’d jump off the damn bridge herself before she’d stand there and let Sasuke push her.

 

Moreover, Sakura would never be alone on the bridge in the first place, because he and Kakashi wouldn’t let her. And this bridge may have represented ruination to Sasuke, but to Naruto, it represented the first place that he’d found his friends.

 

The mist was beginning to dissipate. Naruto threw his whole body weight forward, and his left leg moved the tiniest bit. Good.

 

In front of him, Sakura tipped over the side again. But it didn’t look so much like Sakura anymore. The eyes were wrong – too wide. And the hair was too long. The way she moved wasn’t confident enough. Sasuke didn’t know them anymore, Naruto realized. He was creating this genjutsu from memories, not reality.

 

He had no idea how much things had changed.

 

Naruto surged forward, and the invisible prison around his body broke.

 

“Ha!” he said, and Sasuke jumped. He stared as Naruto stumbled forward a couple steps, regaining control of his faculties.

 

“That’s impossible,” he whispered. Sakura’s figure wisped away like smoke.

 

“Not if you’re Uzumaki Naruto,” Naruto said, triumphant. “What now, bastard? Any more brilliant tricks?”

 

Sasuke was still staring at him, so Naruto kept coming. Sasuke held up a warding hand, and Naruto brushed it aside.

 

“You know,” Naruto said. “Sakura is going to be pissed when she finds out you used her as bait.” He shoved Sasuke over the railing, and the bridge underneath him dissolved.

 

Naruto heard Sasuke’s butt hit the floor as he slumped in his own chains, coughing. Sasuke’s eyes were huge in his face.

 

“You couldn’t,” he said. “No one has ever – ”

 

“I did,” Naruto said, still trying to catch his breath. “Next time, do your research, asshole.”

 

_…in sickness…_

 

It was two days later when Sasuke returned.

 

“Back for more?” Naruto said blearily. He wasn’t feeling quite as triumphant as before. When the Sharingan had failed to get them information, they decided to break a rib or two. Naruto could tell the masked leader – Uchiha Madara, he now knew, and how fucking surreal was _that_? – was getting impatient.

 

“You shouldn’t have been able to break that genjutsu,” Sasuke said, and his sword was in his hand. “I don’t know how you did it.”

 

Naruto eyed it, mouth dry. “Are you going to kill me? That might piss off your new friends.”

 

“Shut up,” Sasuke said. He raised the sword, and Naruto’s back hit the wall. He cringed as Sasuke sliced down. The blade flashed silver as it found its target and…severed his restraints from the wall.

 

“I don’t know how you did it,” Sasuke repeated, “but I intend to find out. If you die now, I’ll never know.”

 

“Like I’d tell you anything,” Naruto said, despite the fact that his heart was beating somewhere in his throat. “Asshole.”

 

“You’re an idiot,” Sasuke said. “And you’re wasting time. Let’s go.”

 

They sped silently through the halls of the compound, Naruto’s broken ribs cutting up his insides with every step. He’d slice off his own arm before he complained to Sasuke though.

 

“You haven’t gotten any faster,” Sasuke hissed at one point. “Hurry up.”

 

“Yeah, well you’ve gotten even _uglier_ ,” Naruto whispered back angrily. And okay, it wasn’t the best comeback he’d ever thought of, but he was still trying to wrap his head around the fact that he was going to live, and that _Sasuke_ was the one helping him.

 

Now, if he could just figure out how to knock Sasuke out and drag him back to Konoha…

 

He’d just finished formulating the edges of a blurry plan – mostly involving several astonishing acts of strength and dexterity on his part – when they were ambushed.

 

“Naruto, look out!” Sasuke yelled.

 

Something crashed into the side of his face, and then everything went black.

 

*

 

When Naruto finally crawled out of unconsciousness, he had a cellmate.

 

“I can’t believe I tried to help you,” Sasuke was muttering. “I can’t believe I thought for one second that you might be competent enough to manage. Breaking the Tsukuyomi must have been a coincidence. It _had_ to have been. No one as completely inept as you could have…”

 

“Hey,” Naruto slurred. His tongue felt funny and thick, and he thought he might have a concussion. “It was your plan, so it must have been your fault.”

“The plan would have worked fine if I didn’t have to drag your dead weight around with me,” Sasuke snarled.

 

“Well maybe you should have left a couple more ribs intact,” Naruto snapped. “That might have helped.”

 

Sasuke looked away, and Naruto heard him say something under his breath.

 

“Speak up,” he said irritably. “My ear’s blocked.” It was, too. Naruto wondered if that shark guy had poured water down there when he wasn’t looking.

 

“I _said_ , ‘It wasn’t me who broke your ribs.’” Sasuke’s voice was annoyed.

 

It was Naruto’s turn to look away. “Yeah, well you didn’t do much to stop it either, did you?”

 

Sasuke was for quiet a long time. Finally he said, “Why would I want to stop it?”

 

And Naruto didn’t know if he was just playing dumb or honestly that much of an asshole, but at the moment, he didn’t care.

 

“You know, fuck you,” he said, suddenly furious. “I don’t give a shit anymore. I’m done chasing you and defending you and trying to drag you back where you belong. Half the time I don’t even _want_ you back. I should have just listened to Jiraiya, and fuck friendship, and fuck brotherhood, and _fuck you_. You can go fuck yourself, Uchiha.”

 

Sasuke looked at him, jaw working, and Naruto got the oddest notion he’d hurt his old teammate’s feelings.

 

“Fuck you,” he repeated for good measure, just to push past that strange look in Sasuke’s eyes.

 

“Lover’s spat?” the giant shark man asked from outside their cell.

 

Shit. Naruto hadn’t even heard him approach.

 

“And I thought you two leaf nin were so close,” his fishy face taunted. Naruto’s fists clenched. Kisame, that was his name. Uchiha Itachi’s partner. Naruto impulsively decided to take all his hatred of Itachi and direct it right back onto Kisame. Just because he could. He needed to do something with all his anger, and he was a bit too dizzy for physical violence at the moment.

 

“Well,” Kisame shrugged. “We’ll see how close you are. Baby Itachi – Leader-sama wants to talk to you.”

 

*

 

The next hour was one of the worst of Naruto’s life.

 

It was one thing to say he hated Sasuke, and another thing entirely to listen to his screams through the surprisingly thin (god, why wasn’t it _thicker_?) door off to the left. Naruto plugged his ears and hummed and reminded himself of all the terrible things Sasuke had done to him since childhood, up to and including the awful genjutsu with Sakura.

 

It always ended with him thinking how he’d rip every one of them limb from limb if Sasuke died.

 

When they finally dumped him back in the cell, Sasuke was still breathing – barely. His face was covered in blood and bruises, and his left ankle was bent oddly. Naruto swallowed.

 

“Leader-sama tired himself out,” Kisame smirked. “I’ll be back for you later, fox-boy.”

 

Sasuke was nothing but a heap of black fabric, and Naruto fought the urge to go to him.

 

“Hey,” he said. No response.

 

Naruto clenched his teeth. “Hey,” he said more forcefully. “You’re not dead, are you?”

 

Nothing.

 

“Because I doubt you want to die here, and I _know_ I don’t want to smell your dead body, and it’s not like you don’t deserve it, but I was sort of hoping I’d get to be the one to kill you. I’ll be pretty fucking insulted if you just roll over and die right here in this cell and –”

 

“Be quiet,” Sasuke said hoarsely. “I’m not dead.” His lips had a blue cast to them from too much blood loss, and Naruto wished to god Sakura was there to tell him what to do.

 

Sasuke dragged himself into a sitting position against the wall, grunting all the way.

 

“Serves you right,” Naruto said, but there was no bite to the words. The last time he’d seen Sasuke in such bad shape was when Itachi fought him all those years ago in the hotel. It gave him the same feeling now that it did back then – the jagged clench in his stomach, the panicky tightness.

 

The rage, like Sasuke needed anyone to be angry on his behalf.

 

“What did they want from you?”

 

Sasuke’s face was waxy. “Nothing. I don’t have any information they don’t already know. Madara just isn’t partial to betrayal.”

 

“Why doesn’t he just kill you then?”

 

Sasuke grimaced. “Because this way is more fun, I assume.”

 

Naruto gingerly sat back against the wall, shoulder to shoulder with Sasuke. His own ribs were still killing him. It was on the tip of his tongue to offer an apology, when he realized how ridiculous that was. The only victim here was _him_. Sasuke deserved every beating he got.

 

It was a lot harder to remember with Sasuke all slumped over and defeated, though.

 

After a few moments of silence, Sasuke turned his head to look at him. His eyes were dull.

 

“You’re going to die, you know,” he said in a low voice. “There’s nothing you can do. If you tell them what they want to know, they’ll at least stop torturing you.”

 

Naruto looked at the ground and shook his head, pressing his lips together. “I won’t do that,” he said. “If they get the fox out of me, Konoha will be in enough trouble. I won’t give up my team.”

 

The smile that flitted across Sasuke’s face was quick and wry. “Same old Naruto,” he said softly. “You haven’t grown up at all.”

 

“If growing up means betraying the people I care about, I’d rather not,” he said, and Sasuke’s smile wasn’t nearly as nice this time around.

 

“Guilt trips don’t work on me,” Sasuke informed him, and Naruto smirked at him.

 

“I sort of figured that out the first time you tried to kill me.”

 

“Loser.” Sasuke closed his eyes and sighed in displeasure.

 

“So I guess I shouldn’t bring up Orochimaru?”

 

Sasuke didn’t answer.

 

“Or that time you put a fist through my chest? Or that other time you tried to gut me with a sword? Or how about the time – Sasuke? Sas – hey.”

 

Sasuke was swaying, his dark head tipping forward, his back sliding sideways down the wall. Naruto caught him before he fell over, and for a moment they were chest to chest, cheek to cheek.

 

“Such a moron,” Sasuke whispered. “Naruto.”

 

Naruto held very still, and then Sasuke’s head came to rest on his shoulder. His breath touched Naruto’s skin at even intervals. He was asleep.

 

It was a long time before Naruto let him go.

 

*

 

Naruto was jolted awake when a gigantic hand grabbed his collar. Kisame slammed him against the wall with unpleasant force, and Naruto saw Madara doing the same thing to Sasuke from the corner of his eye. They were both in bad enough shape that their captors hadn’t even bothered restraining them, and Kisame gave his newly-healed wrist a wrench that would disable it for a good long while.

 

“I’m a little disappointed in myself,” Madara said. “I should have thought of this much, much sooner.”

 

He produced a kunai from his holster, then held it to Sasuke’s throat. “Tell me what I want to know, or I’ll kill Sasuke-kun. Now.” Sasuke’s face was strained.

 

Naruto finally understood what it meant for his blood to freeze in his veins. His vocal chords were locked, and Madara sighed.

 

“Don’t look so wounded, Naruto-kun. Shinobi have to make tough choices sometimes. Surely you knew that going in? Now. Where can we find the rest of your team? Tell me the truth or I’ll just have him killed afterward.”

 

“Wait. Wait,” Naruto said, scrambling. His mind was racing. “Just…just let him go first and when he’s free, I’ll tell you.”

 

“I think you’ve misunderstood,” Madara said coldly. “This isn’t a negotiation.”

 

Sasuke didn’t make a sound when Madara gutted him – he just sank to the floor in a flutter of dark fabric. Naruto’s own heart slammed into his rib cage. He started to struggle furiously.

 

“You asshole,” he shouted. “You fucking dickhead. I’ll never tell you a thing, I – ”

 

Kisame punched him in the stomach, and Naruto doubled over, coughing. He felt Madara lay a hand on the back of his neck.

 

“Tell me,” he said soothingly, “and I’ll get a doctor here before he dies. I’ll give you a few moments to think about it.”

 

Then he left them.

 

“Shit,” Naruto said, leaning over Sasuke. He was crying, which had to be the least cool thing he could possibly do, but _fuck_.

 

Sasuke was bleeding out all over the floor, and Naruto helplessly tried to shove his jacket against the hole in his stomach to slow the blood flow a little.

 

Sasuke’s eyes blinked open lethargically. “I told you,” he said faintly. “Ruined my life.”

 

“Shit,” Naruto said again, voice choked. “Hang on. Sakura will know how to fix you. And you know how fast Kakashi is. They’ll get us out of here and get you back to Konoha. You’ll be fine if you just don’t die on me.”

 

“They’re not really coming, are they?” Sasuke asked, eyes tired and unfocused.

 

“Yes they are,” Naruto said fiercely. “I sent the signal when I was captured, and they’re close.”

 

He tried to lower his voice, to fight back the fear. “The Konoha safe house is just a couple miles from here. Believe me, they’re coming. They’re waiting for the right time, so if you just hold on…” He wasn’t even sure what he was saying anymore except that there had to be some magic words that would make Sasuke live. Because they’d been so close to escaping and Sasuke had just started to feel like the old Sasuke again and…

 

Sasuke’s eyes fell shut. “Damn,” he whispered, and there was an odd despair in his tone.

 

Naruto could feel his panic rising, and he shook Sasuke once, twice….

 

“I told you it would work,” Sasuke said, and his voice was suddenly flat and clear as ice.

 

Naruto’s brow furrowed, and then he heard Madara behind them.

 

“So you did,” Madara said softly, and Sasuke sat up, his face a careful blank. “Well done.”

 

_…and in health…_

 

“Naruto, Naruto, Naruto.”

 

Naruto still hadn’t seen Madara’s face, but he’d had enough of his insufferable voice to last a life time.

 

“What am I going to do with you?” he sighed.

 

Naruto thought of a few really good answers, but he didn’t manage to get any of them out before a foot plowed into his stomach. The chains didn’t let him bend over, so all he could do was sag and gasp like a fish out of water.

 

“Two of my best men wasted two days looking for a safe house that doesn’t exist. I’m not sure who I’m angrier at. You, for being deceitful, or Sasuke-kun, for being gullible.” Naruto could hear the real anger behind the cultured façade of his voice.

 

“There was no way to know he’d feed us false information,” Sasuke said, cold and distant. His injuries had mysteriously vanished. “That level of strategy is unprecedented for the nine-tails.”

 

The nine-tails. Like they were complete strangers. Naruto almost wanted to retort with a crack regarding “The Uchiha’s” unprecedented level of stupidity, but he satisfied himself with a contented silence. He had a feeling that was pissing Sasuke off more than anything else, anyway.

 

“Maybe he wasn’t a friend to you after all,” Madara said in a silken voice.

 

“Maybe,” Sasuke said shortly.

 

“Oh, I’m still your friend, you ugly, smug sonofabitch,” Naruto told him. “But I learned a long time ago not to trust you.”

 

Madara had a syringe in his hand. He held it up between two fingers. “You win, little kitsune. We’ll be taking the fox now. Once we have it, it doesn’t matter who comes. We’ll be in charge.”

 

He held the syringe very close to Naruto’s nose, and Naruto tried not to let any fear show in his face.

 

“Once we inject you, you’ll lose consciousness quickly. Extracting the Bijuu is quite a lengthy process, and uncomfortable for the host as well, I imagine. I’m not sure. We’ve never tried it with a conscious vessel. Either way, you won’t wake up. I’d say your goodbyes now, Naruto.”

 

He picked up Naruto’s wrist, and Naruto just barely managed not to jerk away. His chest felt very tight, but he supposed he could be forgiven a little hysteria. He was about to die after all. He braced himself for the sting of the needle.

 

“Wait,” Sasuke said. “I’ll do it.”

 

Madara paused, considering. He turned the tube of clear liquid over in his pale hands a few times.

 

“Why?” he asked.

 

Sasuke looked at him like he was a bug to be squashed. “He was my teammate once. It should be me.”

 

He turned the tube of clear liquid over in his pale hands a few times. “I’ll allow it,” he finally conceded. “It’s only right. Rivalry is important, after all.”

 

At least with Sasuke in front of him, Naruto could muster some anger. “Coward,” he said. “Couldn’t kill me on the battle field so you had to chain me up. Asshole.”

 

Sasuke was surveying him, the look in his eyes unfathomable. _Just wait until I’m dead_ , Naruto thought. _I’ll haunt your ass till you drop._ Oddly, he took some comfort in the notion.

 

Out loud, he said. “It will never work.”

 

Sasuke was going for the sensitive carotid vein in his neck instead of the wrist. Naruto expected that by now; it felt more personal, more of a mindfuck.

 

“Someone will stop you – someone else like the Fourth, who’s willing to sacrifice themselves.”

 

“Someone like you?” Sasuke asked in a low voice, prepping the needle. Naruto watched him, and hated him, and loved him all at once.

 

“Someone better,” Naruto said. “Akatsuki will never take Konoha.”

 

Sasuke paused at that, hands warm and firm on Naruto’s neck. His grip was caressing, almost. “No,” he said. “Akatsuki never will.”

 

He moved his fingers – some lightning-fast motion that Naruto couldn’t catch. And then he heard a shocked hiss. He looked, and the syringe was sticking out of Madara’s neck, puncturing the vein with excruciating accuracy.

 

“You – ” Madara said furiously, grabbing at the bars for balance. He opened his mouth to call for help, but Sasuke was on him, restraining his struggles until he sank to the ground, unconscious.

 

He looked back at Naruto. Naruto was pretty sure his jaw was touching the ground with shock.

 

“Ruined my goddamn life,” Sasuke said wearily.

 

_…’til death do us part._

 

The second trip through the compound was even faster than the first one, mainly, Naruto assumed, because Sasuke was actually trying to escape this time. They didn’t stop running until they were in the forest, and Naruto just fell, robbed of oxygen by his broken ribs and weeks of immobility.

 

Sasuke hauled him to his feet. “Don’t pass out,” he warned. “We need to find Kakashi and Sakura? Where are they really?”

 

“Konoha,” Naruto said. “There was never anyone else. I came to get you on my own.”

 

Sasuke looked at him for a long moment. “You’re ridiculous,” he said finally. His voice gave nothing away, but there was a spark of…something…in his eyes that Naruto hadn’t seen in a long time.

 

“Why?” he couldn’t stop himself from asking. “Why did you do that?”

 

Sasuke made an impatient noise. “Can’t you just shut up and be grateful for once in your life?”

 

Naruto almost choked. “Grateful to _you_?” he said incredulously, and Sasuke raised an eyebrow. “I swear, your ego….”

 

“Madara didn’t deserve the fox,” Sasuke interrupted. “That’s all.”

 

“Oh, and you do?” Naruto scoffed.

 

Sasuke tilted his chin arrogantly. “I don’t _need_ the fox,” he corrected.

 

“And what did you mean, ‘Akatsuki will never take Konoha’?” Naruto said. “Does that mean there’s someone else? Are you working with someone else?”

 

Sasuke’s eyes were a deep black in the moonlight. “I’ll tell you later,” Sasuke said, and started walking away.

 

“What does that mean?” Naruto called after him. “Does that mean you’re coming back to Konoha?”

 

“Eventually,” came the faint reply.

 

“Hey,” Naruto shouted. “I may be out of commission now, but that doesn’t mean you get off easy. Next time I see you this will go differently, do you hear me? I’ll be waiting for you.”

 

Naruto couldn’t quite hear what Sasuke said to that. But it sounded a lot like, “I’ll be counting on it.” 


End file.
